Given all of the injuries in their rotation this year, the Atlanta Braves have done pretty well to not completely implode. Most teams would have rolled over completely if they were faced with the amount of adversity Atlanta has and while the results have not been good, the Braves have at least looked respectable in the second half in no small part because Hurston Waldrep has been great since coming up from the minors. However, one arm that has not looked good and appears to be playing his way off the roster is Bryce Elder.

Elder is a polarizing figure amongst fans and for good reason. When he is good, Elder is a true innings eater and he certainly had a stretch earlier this year where he was very solid. Elder also made the All-Star team in 2023 which still features prominently in some fans’ minds. However, when Elder is bad, he is really bad and the Braves have basically lost the game before it started.

When looking at how things with Elder are trending including his disaster against the White Sox, 2025 needs to be the last season where we see him in the Braves’ rotation.

Bryce Elder’s time in the Braves’ rotation needs to come to an end after this season

For seven starts from April 23 to June 7, Elder was legitimately good and no one should argue otherwise. In 42.1 innings over that span, Elder posted a 2.98 ERA and 3.35 FIP while being one of Atlanta’s most reliable arms other than Grant Holmes and Chris Sale before they got hurt. However, in the 10 starts after that stretch, Elder has imploded with a 7.97 ERA and slightly less horrifying, but still bad 5.96 FIP and that doesn’t include his nightmarish this week against Chicago.

Everyone honestly should have seen this coming because all of the warning signs were there that Elder was not going to be able to keep up his early success. A closer look at Elder’s pitching metrics shows a guy that just doesn’t have a big league fastball (bottom 1% in baseball) or changeup (also bottom 1%). Even his slider, his calling card and best pitch by a mile, is in the bottom 26% of breaking balls ranked by actual production in the league. The only thing that Elder has done actually well this year is getting ground balls, but those ground balls are getting hit so hard that he can’t take advantage of that skill very often especially lately.

In short, moving on from Elder has been long overdue. One can certainly understand why the Braves have stuck with him this season because, well, they don’t have anyone else to give them innings right now. However, the Braves need to aggressively rework and set their 2026 rotation plans this offseason without Elder involved. Stashing him in the minors as an emergency option is fine, but having Elder as one of your starting five is not something Atlanta should entertain if they truly want to get back into playoff contention.